Web Design
Web design is no longer the task of a few professionals. It is an activity that - at some point or another - will involve the vast majority of people, especially graduates. Mastering the basics of web design, therefore is a fundamental component of computer literacy. The College offers a 12 hours Course in web design open to all students and aiming at providing key principles and basic practical knowledge. More details about the Course can be found at this page and the poster of the Course can be downloaded here.
The Course will be offered by MSc student Antonio Contino in the main College lecture theatre on the dates and times listed below, Students are advised to bring their laptop computer to these classes.
(1) Introduction to web design. Basic tags. Fundamentals of HTML and CSS. Index HTML. Monday 16 October, 6.00 pm
(2) HTML and CSS.Structure of web pages. Responsive. Wednesday 18 October, 6.00 pm
(3) Javascript. Pop-up menus. Monday 23 October, 6.00 pm
(4) Graphics. Tables. Media. Wednesday 25 October, 6.00 pm
(5) Advanced CSS. Javascript. Monday 30 October, 6.00 pm
(6) Botstrap and jQuery. CMS: Wordpress. Wednesday. 31 October, 6.00 pm
How to Write a Dissertation
The College is offering a Course on dissertation writing, a key component of the academic life of every student. More details about the Course can be found at this page and the poster of the Course can be downloaded here. approach to study and work that maximises the academic potential of each individual. The Course will be offered by MSc student Matteo Turchetti in seminar room 3 (North wing) on the following dates and times:
(1) Planning and conducting a research project. Monday 9 October, 6.00 pm.
(2) Thought mapping and writing. Wednesday 11 October, 6.00 pm.
(3) Referencing and bibliographies. Friday 13 October, 6.00 pm.
Personal Development Planning
The College is offering a Course on Personal Development Planning, an important approach to study and work that maximises the academic potential of each individual. Further details of the Course can be found in the relevant page, The Course will be offered by medical undergraduate Pietro Balagna and will consist of three meetings in the College lecture theatre, as shown below. The poster of the Course can be found here. The Course is compulsory for College freshers and highly recommended for higher year students and will be offered by medical undergraduate Pietro Balagna on the following dates and times:
Tackling your University Course. Monday 9 October, 6.00-8.00 pm.
Recognising your strengths and weaknesses. Wednesday 11 October, 6.00-8.00 pm.
Making your personal development plan. Friday 13th October, 6.00-8.00 pm.
Pietro Balagna
I am a 4th year medical undergraduate enrolled in the Harvey Course (the Medical Course taught in English of the University of Pavia). I supervise in Medicine for the Harvey Course, I coordinate applications from the Volta Students Union to Acersat, the University body that supports students' activities and I offer the Course in Personal Development Planning to the new students admitted to College.
2017/18
Personal Development Planning (All University Courses)
01. Tackling your University Course
02. Recognising your strengths and weaknesses
03. Making your personal development plan
College Concert
The College is pleased to announce its first official concert, which will take place on Wednesday the 12th of October in the Aula del Quattrocento on the main University site (Largo Leonardo) at 9.00 pm.
The concert features three distinguished Italian artists: Claudio Zampetti (piano), Nicola Zuccalà (clarinet) and Giuseppe Faraone (solo voice) and includes music by B Kovacs, WA Mozart, V Bellini, F Liszt, FP Tosti, E Di Capua, R Schumann and F Mendellsohn.
All Volta students are expected to join the concert and College would like to express special thanks to the two students who have made the concert possible: P Pugliese and P Balagna. The College is grateful to Acersat for financial support toward the concert.
Image: Claudio Zampetti, the piano artist playing in the College concert.
Library Service
The College would like to thank the 13 students who have expressed an interest in the library service and would like to to confirm that the following students have been appointed:
Semester 1 (October 2017 - February 2018): A Barone and AA Khan
Semester 2 (March 2018 - July 2018): F Cervellera and M Giudice
Service will be from Monday to Friday 6.00 to 7.00 pm in the small office adjacent the board room (Rettorato) and involves book and dvd loans, classification of new book, etc. During the current academic year the College will also re-arrange the layout and content of the two College libraries and students involved in the library service will play an important role in this project.
Chinese Language
Volta aims to build strong links with several Chinese Universities and is keen to promote the learning of Chinese (mandarin) in College. This project involves contacts with the Chinese Embassy in Rome - currently in progress - and aimed at securing membership of the so-called Confucius Institute, the organisation of the Chinese Ministry for Education of the People's Republic of China promoting Chinese language and culture outside China.
Two Colleges in Rome and three Universities (Cagliari, Tuscia and Urbino)) are currently members of the Institute. Membership can entail support - financial and/or organisational - toward the teaching of Chinese language.
Volta hopes that its application for membership of the Institute will be successful and plans to run its first Chinese Course in 2018/19.
Spanish Language
Volta decided recently to promote the study of the Spanish language in College following a marked increase in the interest and the number of application for Erasmus placements at Spanish Universities, notably Barcelona.
Further Volta typically hosts between two and four Spanish undergratues each year as 'incoming' Erasmus students and, taken together, therfore, the case for the study of Spanish in College is a strong one.
The College hopes to launch the first Spanish Course at DELE B2 level starting from 2017/18, expects strong interest and is confident that the new Course will enhance the academic ties between Volta and Spanish Universities. Further details of the proposed Course structure can be found at this other web page.
German Language
The first German classes of Volta were run thanks to the commitment of Claudio Neidhöfer, a senior medical undergraduate and a long term member of College .
The organisation of a formal German Course at the level required by the majority of German University for Erasmus placecements (DSH level 1) follows the interest of a number of Courses in the initial classes and a deliberate College policy aimed at strenghtening the links between the Volta community and German acaemic Institutions. Volta students studying at German University find a solid infrastructure, strong teaching facilities and well defined sets of rules governing the rights and responsibilities of students and staff. German Universities therefore provide one of the most effective learning environment across Europe and the students of Collegio Volta should not be denied access as a result of the insufficient knowledge of the German language.
Details of the current structure and arrangements of the German Course can be found at this other web page.
French Language
The first French classes of Volta were run thanks to the commitment of Giulia Bonarettti, a distinguished undergraduate and later a graduate member of Volta.
The growing interest of Volta undergraduates in Erasmus placements and notably at French Universities and Research Institutes has been the major drive toward formal, College-based French Courses. French is a language widely spoken in France and a number of other countries in Africa, the Middle East and the Far East and it is the language in which outstanding contributions to European literature, phisophy and science were made.
The College is specially pleased therefore to be able to offer one level of French (DELF level B2). This will increase awareness of the weight of French language and culture in the edfice of the European and western world at large, will surely expand the contacts between French academic Institutions and Pavia and will enable more students from Volta to study at French Universities.
Details of the current arrangements toward French Courses can be found at this other web page.
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Spanish
Volta plans to offer a Spanish Language Course at a single level: Diplomas de Español como Lengua Extranjera (DELE) level B2 to College students (DELE tests can be taken at a number of Sopanish cultural Institutes (Instituti Cervantes) across the world. The closest to Collegio Volta is the Instituto Cervantes in Milan. Following the pattern of College English, French adn German language Course, the Spanish Course under planning will involve 60 hours of teaching from mid November until late April arranged in 30 sessions of 2 hours each (two sessions per week). A poster of the Course can be downloaded here, a Course flyer can be downloaded here.
With the fall of the Spanish dictatorship in 1975 Spain has embarked in a successful journey of freedom and democracy in which Universities have played a major role. Spain hosts a number of fine Universities and Research Institutes and is a popular destination for Italian Erasmus students, not least because the Spanish life pattern is probably close enough to the Italian one. College is detemined to implement a Spanish Course in order to ensure that Volta students moving to Spain make the best of their time of study there.
The Course will be set at the standard required by the best Spanish Universities (the standard of language required differs at different Universities) and interested in the Course will be advised to take an online entrance test, such as the Spanish Placement Test offered by Oxford University that provides reliable and useful information about a student's entry level.
Every student at Volta is expected to study a language and currently has a choice of English (3 levels), French (1 level) and German (1 level). Enrolment fee for all Language Courses at Volta for 2017/18 is expected to be € 100 per Course.
German
Volta offers a German Language Course at a single level: Deutsche Sprachprufung dur den Hocshshulzugang (DSH) level 1 to College students. The Course involves 60 hours of teaching from mid November until late April arranged in 30 sessions of 2 hours each (two sessions per week). A poster of the Course can be downloaded here, a Course flyer can be downloaded here.
Germany is the largest country in Europe. It has a superb University and Research infrastructure and is largely responsibile for the modern view that University should be engines of Research and Innovation, a concept that found implementation on a massive scale in the US. Volta wishes to encourage more students to apply for Erasmus placements and postgraduate studies and training and postdoctoral fellowships but fluency in the German language is essential for this and relatively few students of Volta currently have the level of German necessary.
College believes that the German language Course may change this. The Course is set at the standard requirement for admission of foreign students under the Erasmus scheme (DSH level 1). Only two German Universities (Tübingen and Berlin) require DSH level 1 and College may arrange extra tuition for students who intend to apply to Tübingen and Berlin. Students interested in the German Course are advised to take an online entrance test. The one currently used by Volta is a brief and free German Placement Test test offered by Oxford University that provides reliable and useful information about a student's entry level. Every student at Volta is expected to study a language and currently has a choice of English (3 levels), French (1 level) and German (1 level).
2017/18
Lecturer
Claudio Neidhöfer
Lectures
01. Lectures 01-10
02. Lectures 11-20
03. Lectures 21-30
04. Lectures 31-40
05. Attendance
French
Volta offers a French Language Course at a single level: Diplôme d'Etudes en Langue Française (DELF) B2 level to College students. The Course involves 60 hours of teaching from mid November until late April arranged in 30 sessions of 2 hours each (two sessions per week). A poster of the Course can be downloaded here, a Course flyer can be downloaded here.
France is home to a wealth of Universities and 'Schools' (special Universties distinctive of the French educational system) and is a popular destination for Erasmus placements. The level of the French Course at Volta, therefore, is set at the standard requirement set by French Universities for admission of foreign students under the Erasmus scheme or equivalent. Students interested in the French Course are advised to take an online entrance test. The one currently used by Volta is a brief and free French Placement Test test offered by Oxford University that provides reliable and useful information about a student's entry level.
Every student at Volta is expected to study a language and currently has a choice of English (3 levels), French (1 level) and German (1 level). Enrolment fee for all Language Courses at Volta for 2017/18 is expected to be € 100 per Course.
2017/18
Lecturer
Ingrid Ouandji
French Language 2017/18 (All Courses)
01. Lectures 01-05
02. Lectures 06-10
03. Lectures 11-15
04. Lectures 16-20
05. Attendance
English
Volta offers Courses in English Language at three levels. Courses involve 60 hours of teaching from mid November until late April and are arranged in 30 sessions of 2 hours each with two sessions per week.The poster of English Courses can be downloaded here. A flyer of the Course can be downloaded here.
The College has organised English language Courses independently in 2012/13, 2013/14 and 2014/15 and jointly with EDiSU in 2015/16 and 2016/17. Volta offers three levels of English Courses shaped on Cambridge English. Volta students entering the English Courses take an online test, paid by College, through Oxford University in order to be assigned to the appropriate class. This test is used at Volta both as a placement test as well as an exit test in order to neasure progress.
The syllabus employed at Volta is Cambridge English and the teaching is structured according to the guidelines of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). The aim of the English Courses at Volta is to take all Volta students to a C1 level, the one required for postgraduate studies in UK or US Universities and for employment. Students work toward the International English Language Test System (IELTS) examination. This examination is expensive (the cost is in excess of € 200) and is accepted by Universities only if the test has been sat in the last 12 months. Thus College studens are encouraged to sit the IELTS examination only in their final year when they have reached C1 level and are in the process of applying for postgraduate training or employment.
Every student at Volta is expected to study a language and currently has a choice of English (3 levels), French (1 level) and German (1 level). Enrolment fee for 2017/18 is expected to be € 100 per Course.
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